account.'

"'Well,' cried one and another, seeing the captain return quite out
of breath.

"'The devil's in it,' said Falcon; 'the man went through a wall, I
believe! As I do not suppose that he is a wizard, I fancy he must
belong to the house! He knows every corner and turning, and easily
escaped.'

"'I am done for,' said the surgeon, in a gloomy voice.

"'Come, come, keep calm, Bega,' said I (his name was Bega), 'we will
sit on watch with you till you leave. We will not leave you this
evening.'

"In point of fact, three young officers who had been losing at play
went home with the surgeon to his lodgings, and one of us offered to
stay with him.

"Within two days Bega had obtained his recall to France; he made
arrangements to travel with a lady to whom Murat had given a strong
escort, and had just finished dinner with a party of friends, when his
servant came to say that a young lady wished to speak to him. The
surgeon and the three officers went down suspecting mischief. The
stranger could only say, 'Be on your guard--' when she dropped down
dead. It was the waiting-woman, who, finding she had been poisoned,
had hoped to arrive in time to warn her lover.

"'Devil take it!' cried Captain Falcon, 'that is what I call love! No